AfricaPress-Tanzania: ZANZIBAR has ruled out the prospect of joining the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) due to lack of qualifications.
Minister of State, President Office and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council Issa Haji Ussi, told the House of Representatives that only fully fledged republics qualify as OIC members.
Mr Ussi was responding to arguments by members of the House while debating his office’s 2020/2021 budget speech.
He said Zanzibar attempted to join the 51-year old organisation in 1992 but it was later compelled to leave because Zanzibar lacked criterion as an autonomous state.
‘’The move by Zanzibar to join the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation appeared to be a blatant violation of the constitution because issues of international cooperation fall under the United Republic of Tanzania,” the minister explained.
Debating the budget speech, Uzini Representative in the House Mohamed Raza advised the Indian Ocean’s semi-autonomous archipelago to join the OIC whose charter aims at preserving Islamic social and economic values; promoting solidarity amongst member states; increasing cooperation in social, economic, cultural, scientific, and political areas; upholding international peace and security; as well as advancing education, particularly in the fields of science and technology.
He argued that membership to the organisation will enable the country to benefit from aid and other services provided to member states.
The minister further explained that the matter has been discussed exhaustively, adding that when the appropriate time comes, the isles will join the organisation through the Union government.
Zanzibar first joined the OIC under former President Salmin Amour Juma but was later forced to withdraw after it emerged that there was a huge violation of the constitution of the Union Republic of Tanzania.
The illegal membership cost the job of the then Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ambassador Hassan Diria who resigned alongside other senior officers in the ministry.
The OIC was founded in 1969 with 57 members whose collective population stood at over 1.8 billion as of 2015. Of its members, 53 were Muslim-majority countries.
